The grain orientation of (001)- and (111)-oriented magnetite thin films grown on MgO substrates (film thickness of 100?400?nm) is analyzed by means of the electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. The (001) surface after a short annealing in air (1?min, 250??C) is characterized by the presence of tiny (diameter of 100?200?nm) misoriented islands, which have an influence on the antiferromagnetic coupling within the film. In the (111)-oriented films, such defects are found to be absent, and the films show a very homogeneous surface. The achieved spatial resolution enables further a cross-section analysis of a 400-nm-thick film with (001) orientation, even close to the interface MgO-magnetite.

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dc.description.sponsorship

This work is supported by DFG Project No. MU959/19
and the EU-funded project ?ASPRINT? Contract No.
NMP4-CT-2003-1601 , which is gratefully acknowledged.